What do you get when you take a man who sings about rebelling against authority and following your own rules and add a child to the mix? How does fatherhood change the ultimate bad ass lifestyle? What does it mean to be on tour and be a father? Those are just a few of the topics that the rock documentary, The Other F Word explores. In director, Andrea Blaugrund Nevins newest work she follows some of the most well known puck rock band members in their newest and most important lead role, fatherhood.
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The documentary follows Pennywise lead singer, Jim Lindberg over the course of a year while he is on tour promoting his band’s latest album. We also go back to California with him and see him at home with his three daughters and wife. Throughout the film, Jim’s life is convoluted as he tries to be an authority figure to his girls and a cool punk rocker on stage for his fans. We see not only what it means to him as a parent but also what it means to him as a person. The film also sits down with some other famous band dads like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Art Alexakis from Everclear, Mark Hoppus from Blink 182, professional skate boarder Tony Hawk and many other recognizable men. The dads share the joy and struggles of fatherhood and what it means to them and their profession.
Part documentary, part social commentary the film is excellent even for people who have never heard the music the men make. I am not a puck rock fan at all, I have heard of the bands but have never actually listened to any of them, still it was thoroughly enjoyable and interesting to see what the men had to say. I feel that we focus so much on women balancing work and motherhood sometimes we forget dads have to do it too. The film shows not only the men as dads now but it also touches on their childhood. Most of the men come from broken homes. They talk about being raised by single moms and not really having anyone around to look out for them. Punk rock and music was an escape for them, it told the stories they had in their heads. It was also very much a community especially in Southern California in the 1980’s for them. The scene was a placed where they belonged and felt accepted. The film touches on the way the music industry has changed so vastly since the inception of most of the bands. It shows the need for almost year-long tours as means of survival because record stores are all but extinct these days. There is the business aspect of punk rock and how the music has been shaped over the last few decades. The documentary touches on what it means to grow up in your life, in your career and how parenthood so completely changes who you are. The film is emotional, funny, realistic and insightful. It is a great, fast paced peak into the world of punk rock, I absolutely recommend it.
The film opens November 2nd in New York and November 4th in Los Angeles with limited screenings around the country following the openings. For more information visit the film’s website.
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